Trump Corruption

NBC News reports: The Environmental Protection Agency barred The Associated Press and CNN from a national summit on harmful water contaminants on Tuesday — and guards forcibly shoved a female reporter out of the building. The EPA blocked the media organizations, along with the environmental-focused E&E News, from attending the meeting in Washington, convened by EPA chief Scott Pruitt. “The …

The Daily Beast reports: Monday, the Associated Press reported on the months-long 2017 lobbying effort carried out by Elliot Broidy and George Nader that brought the pair close to securing nearly $1 billion in contracts with the Saudis and the Emiratis in exchange for lobbying against their enemy, Qatar. Also during the pair’s lobbying blitz in the fall of 2017, …

PBS NewsHour reports: The White House says President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly plans to “immediately set up a meeting” with congressional leaders and the FBI, Justice Department and Director of National Intelligence to review “highly classified and other information they have requested” related to the Russia investigation. Rep. Devin Nunes, an ardent Trump supporter and head of …

Politico reports: The House appears poised to use at least $3.5 million in federal money to reimburse airports in Florida and New Jersey for financial losses suffered when President Donald Trump stays at his resorts nearby. The language, included in the House’s appropriations bill for transportation spending, appears to target at least three general aviation airports near Trump National Golf …

Axios reports: President Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, recommended appointing Stefan Halper, an academic and suspected FBI informant on the Trump campaign, to a senior role in the Trump administration, Axios has learned. During the transition everyone involved in Trump’s presidential campaign were asked to submit resumes for administration positions. Halper, who already knew Navarro in the context of …

Talking Points Memo reports: President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen beat the fake news drum on Monday, bemoaning the veracity of news reports and ending with #TheTruthWillComeOut. Cohen is currently under investigation in the Southern District of New York for possible bank fraud and campaign-finance violations. He is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by Stormy Daniels for defamation. The …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday shared a quote from a former Secret Service agent and conservative commentator, Dan Bongino, who slammed former CIA director John Brennan. While Trump was using Bongino’s comments, he added in his own commentary by labeling the controversial dossier as “phony.” The president appeared to be loosely quoting Bongino from an appearance he made …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said that Trump could be “walking into a trap” by interviewing with special counsel Robert Mueller if he’s not given more details about a FBI informant who reportedly met with Trump campaign aides. Giuliani told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Sunday that Trump’s team would need more information about …

“I can guarantee you they have found no evidence whatsoever of Russian collusion nor trafficking of allegedly hacked emails with Wikileaks. It is not inconceivable now that Mr. Mueller and his team may seek to conjure up some extraneous crime pertaining to my business or maybe not even pertaining to the 2016 election. I would chalk this up to an …

Here’s what today’s rant is apparently about: Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the …

Trump is contradicting his own lawyer again: Rudy Giuliani, who is representing President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation, said Friday he doesn’t know for sure if the FBI had an informant in the Trump campaign. “Here’s the issue that I really feel strongly about with this informant, if there is one. First of all, I don’t know for sure, …

CNN reports: Rudy Giuliani said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to narrow the scope of a potential interview with President Donald Trump from five topics to two. The former New York City mayor told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” that Mueller is not considering asking the President about his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who’s under …

Reuters reports: The former son-in-law of Paul Manafort, the one-time chairman of President Donald Trump’s campaign, has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that requires him to cooperate with other criminal probes, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The guilty plea agreement, which is under seal and has not been previously reported, could add to the …

The New York Times reports: The company controlled by the family of the White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its financially troubled flagship building by a company with ties to the government of Qatar, according to executives briefed on the deal. Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Companies, is in advanced talks with Brookfield …

Patch reports: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will hold a press briefing on Thursday, May 17. Likely topics include the possibility of the upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un being cancelled and the president’s official acknowledgement that he reimbursed Michael Cohen. The event begins at 1 p.m. Also likely to be brought up is Giuliani’s …

Glorious Leader is binge-tweeting again today: President Trump on Thursday argued his administration has accomplished more than any other in its first 17 months, even as the cloud of a federal probe has hung over the White House for a year. Trump often speaks of his administration in superlatives. He has on multiple occasions claimed his administration has accomplished more …

USA Today reports: The president’s income from his company’s hotel in Washington, D.C. topped $40 million last year, according to a copy of his annual financial disclosure report released on Wednesday, making the property a clear winner among a portfolio which showed mixed results. The Trump International Hotel, located less than one mile from the White House, has emerged a …

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has informed President Donald Trump’s attorneys that they have concluded that they cannot indict a sitting president, according to the President’s lawyer. “All they get to do is write a report,” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN. “They can’t indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that …

The Washington Post reports: Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, solicited a payment of at least $1 million from the government of Qatar in late 2016, in exchange for access to and advice about the then-incoming administration, according to several people with knowledge of the episode. The offer, which Qatar declined, came on the margins of a Dec. 12 meeting …

Ronan Farrow reports at The New Yorker: Last week, several news outlets obtained financial records showing that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, had used a shell company to receive payments from various firms with business before the Trump Administration. In the days since, there has been much speculation about who leaked the confidential documents, and the Treasury Department’s inspector …